In 2023, we took on two new Project Managers at SOS-UK, leading on our UNESCO-award winning Green Impact programme. Read how they’ve found their first year working at SOS-UK. We are now recruiting for a further Green Impact Project Manager, which you can read more about here and at the end of the article!
Green Impact is our long-standing sustainability engagement programme, supporting staff and students to embed sustainability in their places of work and study. Our Project Managers are key to the success of the programme!
Lauren Walia joined us in July 2023, and has spent the year delivering Green Impact at universities, hospitals, students’ unions and cultural heritage sites across the UK. Here’s how she has found her first year in post:
“Working as a Project Manager for Green Impact at SOS-UK is a dream! In previous roles in Universities and Students’ Unions, I had been involved in Green Impact as a participant for years and have seen what a huge difference it can make on a both a larger scale, and also in helping people mould their job to reflect their ethics and passions, so I was excited to help empower people to do that as my job.
The role of Project Manager is fun, varied and engaging, and what really makes me happy to be here is the attention to staff wellbeing within SOS-UK. There is a huge focus on development, time and capacity management, and boundary setting – which means that I feel valued and looked after. My favourite part of the year has been awarding Green Impact teams for their hard work embedding sustainability - after months of working together and seeing the creativity and enthusiasm from people working in loads of different areas, we get to dress up, visit the people we’ve worked with and celebrate all of the incredible and meaningful changes they’ve made.”
![A candid shot of Lauren at an awards event](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6008334066c47be740656954/668e6697bb53c169f06f8e36_2.png)
Fred Fulford joined the team in September 2023 and has since delivered Green Impact in research institutes, NHS Trusts, universities and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Here’s how Fred has found the role:
“I’ve been with SOS-UK for almost a year now, and I was made to feel very welcome from day one. Colleagues are supportive, friendly and collaborative, and a can-do comradery infuses our work and professional relationships. I work with brilliant, passionate people from amazing institutions around the country, supporting their staff’s sustainability journeys and helping to ingrain a holistic view of sustainability into their everyday work. I love the breadth and variety of my role. This involves building and maintaining relationships, administrative and organisational work, creating and delivering presentations and workshops, and many other aspects.
The position requires good social skills, a flexibility and responsiveness, as well as a keen attention to detail and a broad knowledge of sustainability issues. I get to work with people in a variety of roles, from sustainability professionals through to office workers, civil servants, scientists and students, and find out about the great work they’re doing in their workplaces, home lives and communities to make the world a little better! SOS-UK have a strong ethical grounding centred on equality and justice, and my work gives me the opportunity to address the interlinked environmental, economic and social issues we face as a global community and work collaboratively to address these with people from a range of backgrounds."
![Fred supporting students in a workshop](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6008334066c47be740656954/668e669cdb5596ac5233fc29_1.png)
Thank you to our colleagues for bringing their skills, knowledge and passion to SOS-UK and supporting us to further our work. If you’re interested in joining the team, we are hiring a new Green Impact Project Manager in the London/South East England area (deadline 28th July 2024). The new Project Manager will be key to delivering our transformational sustainability work. You can find out more and apply here and if you would like to chat to one of our team before applying, contact us!
For future opportunities, make sure to follow us on social media as all our vacancies are posted across our channels.